Ethnographic, linguistic, and archaeological data support Blackfeet presence in northwestern Montana for at least 2,000 years. Blackfeet origin stories point to an eastern origin within the last 2,000 years, and the Blackfeet language is similar to Algonquian dialects found in the northern Midwest. Archaeological sites may indicate even longer-term residence in northwest Montana and nearby areas, possibly extending back 3,000 years or more. For example, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in southern Alberta shows a sequence of occupations beginning in the Archaic period and continuing well into the Late Prehistoric period. Nevertheless, it is conceivable that the earliest Archaic occupations are associated with some other tribe, such as the ancestral Salish or Kootenai, and that the Blackfeet arrived during the Late Prehistoric period. -Montana Before History 11,000 Years of Hunter-Gatherers in the Rockies and Plains by Douglas H. MacDonald pg.155
Posted on: Sun, 19 Jan 2014 02:19:20 +0000
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